Meet Ryan Timms

We were lucky to catch up with Ryan Timms recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ryan, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

Resilience is all about picking yourself up time and time again when you fall.

I spent 20 years as an extreme sports athlete. Part of that grind is all about trying something and pushing yourself. Pushing beyond what you think you are capable of. Often this leads to some pretty harsh falls. Sometimes you fall down those stairs over and over until you get it just perfect.

Imagine you are surrounded by your best friends. All eyes are on you. You said you could do the thing, you climbed to the starting point, and you are looking down at the bottom. The only thing standing in your way is your mind. You have to overcome that little voice inside your head that tells you to be careful or that you could get hurt, and just huck it.

The first jump was always the worst.

Sometimes the rail felt too high, or the stair set too big, or the trick too hard….but the first jump was always the worst. That’s when you’d get hurt or figure out it wasn’t so bad after all.

Resilience is about getting over yourself and taking that first jump. In sports, in business, in life. Don’t be afraid to take that first jump because more times than not, it’s not gonna hurt as bad as you think!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Storytelling is at the core of humanity. We all love telling stories, big and small. I take that energy, and put capture it with cameras. I help share stories of brands and organizations who may feel they don’t have stories worth telling.

I run a video production company based in the Research Triangle Park. We travel all over the country to create documentary-style videos for businesses.

We’ve created films for companies like Red Bull, Bobcat, United Therapeutics, Lenovo, and more. They trust us to share authentic stories that bleed the identity of their brands. We try and do this through the customer journey, and share how brands enable people to achieve greatness. Often times this means using the product in an extraordinary way.

I always struggled in school and marched to the beat of my own drum. I didn’t much care to participate in assessment-based learning. I was a much more project-oriented worker. I could understand a task, break it down, work with a team, and create something from scratch. Busy work is not for me. As a result my grades we’re often poor and not reflective of my abilities. However, when you are young that is how the world measures your success! I just wasn’t good at playing that game.

I spent my formative years focusing on my crafts. Skating and filming. Countless hours troubleshooting and teaching myself new filmmaking techniques and skating tricks. That passion and hard work is really what made me the person I am today. I did complete a college degree in Journalism, and can use those skills in my work today. At the time I did not understand or appreciate how those would be applied.

Skating taught me how to be strong, how to think on my feet, and how to get back up when you fall down. Filming taught me how to see the world differently, to look up, to feel empathy for those around me. School taught me how my work style fits into society, and how I may not be for everybody but I can still create meaningful things.

My documentary work today is all about empathy. Understanding people, making them feel comfortable, and working with them to share parts of themselves with the audiences of the companies that hire me. I believe my deep understanding of people, along with experience sharing incredible stories has only deepened my empathy well. These people are inviting us into their homes, sharing intimate details about their life. They all leave a little piece of themselves with us, and as a result I feel very full and grateful to be in the position to help share those stories with the world.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Confidence, Empathy, and work ethic are the three most impactful skills along my journey.

My grade school teachers would probably laugh at the idea of me having a strong work ethic. But those who know me from the world of action sports or film likely only know me for my strong work ethic. If it is something I care about, I can have immense patience and focus. Obsessive is probably putting it mildly, but I think you have to be obsessive to be a successful entrepreneur. It takes many hours, hard focus, critical thinking, and problem solving skills to move the needle in your business and for your clients.

I believe I have always been a high empath. My parents divorced at a young age and that really warped my perception of people and the world. Everyone has a story. Everyone has s**t they go through, good and bad. You need to be understanding of folks. Sometimes they aren’t upset with you even if they are taking it out on you. Sometimes things are self-inflected, and sometimes people are just going through it. It helps to be able to take a deep breath and be a bit more understanding.

I’ve always done things my own way. I think to be truly successful you must have the confidence to stand up for yourself and what you believe in. If you want something, fight for it! Don’t give up, don’t bow down, don’t sleep. Just keep going. Pick yourself up time and time again. My career is proof that if you keep putting out what you want in return, it will come.

How would you describe your ideal client?

A great client is somebody who is ready to take some risks. If you want to achieve something special you have to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. The best clients are the ones who are willing to run the marathon together, and become creative partners in creating meaningful films.

The best films have relatable themes. Every business has a story. You, your employees, your customers are all doing incredible things that tough your company every second of the day. If you aren’t willing to look at the weird and take a risk your marketing will remain dull.

Don’t limit yourself to just making noise. Make something that brings value to your ideal clients and to your brand. Brand work is never finished, and films only help continue to build your brand image into the company you truly believe it to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pressrecordmedia.com
• Instagram: @ryanbtimms
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanbtimms/